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September 08, 2011

Baba Ganoush

I had been thinking to make the middle eastern baba ganoush for a while now. Tangy , healthy, refreshing and equally easy to make. The simplicity of the recipe will make you wonder why u bought the prepackaged or tinned version for so long.

A great appetizer to start a great party.

Ingredients:

1 big eggplant, rinsed and patted dry

1/4 tsp whole sesame seeds, toasted if u like or 1/4 cup tahini paste

1-2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup Olive oil

Juice of a lemon or to taste

Small bunch of cilantro or parsley, finely chopped

Salt to taste

Lightly massage the eggplant with some oil and roast it directly on medium flame till super smoky, charred black , with the inner flesh going soft. This is the essential part of the recipe for infusing the trademark flavor. Set aside to cool when done and switch off the flame. Do not cut immediately, let it cool to concentrate the juices inside. Alternatively u can roast the eggplant in the oven at 350F till you can poke through the roasted goodness easily. About 15-20 minutes. I advise the former method as it lends a much more denser flavor to our base for the baba ganoush ,but suit it to your convenience certainly.

In the meantime take the seasme seeds, 2 tsp olive oil , 1 tsp lemon juice and some water.Run them in your food processor till smooth or pasty. This is tahini. I kept mine chunky.

Skin the eggplant and remove the cap . Do not stress taking out every tiny bit of the charred eggplant skin from the flesh of the vegetable. Keep it rustic only trying to remove the maximum skin that you can. Chop the flesh on your cutting board. Does not have to be perfect.

Mix in the tahini, cilantro, roasted eggplant and any juices on the cutting board from the flesh. Add salt and lemon juice to taste. Add a clove of grated garlic and drizzle some olive oil. Mix and serve with pita chips

This is something we have almost every time we eat out in Bahrain. I make my own hummous at home and I have to agree with you that the process is so simple that you knock yourself on the head, wondering why you bought it from the store in the first placeYour babaganoush looks delish!